Strong’s H2637 · Hebrew

חָסֵר
châçêr
khaw-sare'

Definition

to lack; by implication, to fail, want, lessen

Etymology

a primitive root;

Where the KJV renders it

  • be abated
  • bereave
  • decrease
  • (cause to) fail
  • (have) lack
  • make lower
  • want

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Hebrew term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.